Page 81 of The White King's Favorite

“...Alcohol?”

“He d-doesn’t smell like alcohol.”

Tessa leaned over, and despite grimacing, took a whiff of the body, before nodding.

“You’re right... Alcohol would still leave a smell, I can even smell some of his sweat.”

“What kind of nose have you got?!” exclaimed Sabael, stunned.

“A dragon’s,” the girls answered simultaneously.

Somewhere behind them, Krai let out a short growl, as if to concur. Sabael was speechless. The Princess could tell the person was drugged simply after observing their burnt body? Before he could even ask anything, she and Tessandra began pulling two more bodies out and observing them the same way. The two cousins were quickly drawing conclusions between themselves, agreeing those people had been killed way too swiftly.

“Someone drugged these people before they fought,” mumbled Tessandra. “That guy looked like he had plenty of muscle, but he was killed with one blow... They probably all were! There are, what, fifty bodies here?”

“Sixty-six, my lady.”

They turned around.

A very old woman, who only stood with the help of a cane, had come out of one of the houses to talk to them. She was wearing a bandage with blood on it over her small head and looked like she had been through hell. As if her body moved automatically, Cessilia walked up to her, gently pulling the bandage to see the wound beneath.

“I c-can treat this,” she offered.

“I am fine, young lady,” the old woman shook her head, “but thank you. I’m at the age where I don’t care about these little things anymore. I heard you ladies from my house, the one over there. You were right. All these men were drugged before His Majesty arrived. We did it.”

“What the heck?” Tessandra frowned. “Why?”

“To help His Majesty!” exclaimed the old lady. “This village was my ancestors’ home long before those bandits came here. I had to watch again and again as they robbed, killed, and raped every single person I have known. They killed my sons who tried to save me, and they raped my daughter-in-law and grandchild before murdering them! Each time more men came here, it wasn’t to save us, it was more bandits coming to take whatever was left!”

The old lady looked exhausted just from saying all that. In fact, she seemed to be out of energy overall. She was old, injured, and clearly very upset too. Her wrinkled hand was shaking on her cane, and tears were appearing in her small eyes. Cessilia felt her own throat tighten listening to all this. She could imagine that pain was the pain of each person hiding inside the houses. No wonder they had been terrified of them and their dragon now...

“Granny, I’m so sorry...” Nana cried, upset as well.

“I can’t take any more pity, young lady,” said the old woman. “Those men got what they deserved! They weren’t humans! I don’t know what you came here for, but the King served justice for my family!”

“Did you see the fight, old lady?” asked Tessandra, her hands on her hips.

“...From behind my window,” she nodded. “I would have helped, even!”

“There were sixty-six bandits here?”

“That’s what I said!”

“And you drugged them all to help the King?”

The old lady suddenly seemed to calm down a bit, and averted her eyes, nodding.

“We did. The few of us they kept alive to serve them, cook them meals... We simply drugged them, to help His Majesty.”

“How did you know the King was coming?”

The old lady hesitated for a second, before shrugging.

“We had heard he was on his way.”

“From whom? If the bandits had known, they should have been prepared better than stupidly eating and drinking homemade drugs by a bunch of villagers?”

“Watch your tongue, foreigner!” exclaimed the elder.

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